CELEBRITY GRAVES

Grave of Forgotten Silent Film Star Marked at Green-Wood Cemetery

GREENWOOD HEIGHTS — Nearly 100 years after the death of silent film star Florence La Badie, a headstone with her name has been unveiled at Green-Wood Cemetery.

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La Badie, who was a popular New York movie star from 1909 to 1917, was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery after she was killed in a car accident at age 28. Until Sunday, however, her grave had never been marked.

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“For Florence and her family, this recognizes her as an individual who made a contribution to early silent film,” said Ned Thanhouser, whose grandparents ran Thanhouser Company motion picture studios in New Rochelle, where La Badie worked.

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Thanhouser spearheaded the effort to mark La Badie’s grave after he was notified on Facebook of the actress’ presence in Green-Wood. He raised $3,100, which was matched by the cemetery to commission and install the headstone.

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“Everybody should be remembered, and now people can see that she’s here,” said Richard Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery. “This is a terrific find.”

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The unveiling ceremony for La Badie’s headstone was held Sunday, which would have been the actress’s 126th birthday. During her short career, she appeared in more than 180 films, and was at the height of her stardom when she died.

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La Badie was known for doing her own stunts, and this courage garnered her the nickname “Fearless Flo.”

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Ned Thanhouser poses by the grave with a relative of Florence La Badie.

(Photo credit: DNAinfo/Dana Varinsky)

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At the ceremony, Thanhouser read a quote from a 1914 issue of Blue Book magazine, in which silent film director Howell Hansel said of La Badie: “She’ll do anything I ask her to. If I were to say to her, ‘Miss La Badie, go and jump out of that window; there’ll be someone down below to catch you,’ she’d do it without even going to the window to look out to see. She’s pure steel.”

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Ben Model, a silent film accompanist and historian who played piano at the unveiling ceremony, said he appreciates the continued interest in preserving the history of silent film.

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At the unveiling ceremony, Model explained that in La Badie’s time, seeing films was primarily a working class activity, since it was cheaper than going to the theater. He said it would have cost viewers a nickel to watch her movies.

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After unveiling La Badie’s headstone Sunday afternoon, fans and film buffs celebrated her life by sharing coffee and cookies, and watching portions of her films at Green-Wood’s chapel.

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Barbara Davis, the city historian of New Rochelle, said she hopes marking the grave will help preserve the history of silent film.

CELEBRITY GRAVES

Recent outpouring of affection at Michael Jackson’s grave

Offerings from Michael Jackson fans left at the entrance of the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California on the first anniversary of his death. (Photos courtesy of Gary L. Hill)

CELEBRITY GRAVES

Clark Gable’s Tomb Vandalized By A Kiss

(NewsCore) – The tomb of silver screen star Clark Gable was vandalized by an adoring bandit who left her mark with lipstick — causing a repair team to be called to clean it, TMZ reported Sunday.

Gable, who is entombed in a mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif. — also the final resting place of Walt Disney, Michael Jackson and a host of other celebrities — is regularly sought after by female fans, and traces of lipstick are occasionally spotted by the actor’s son John Clark Gable.

Although most previous marks were easily wiped away, the latest one stubbornly stuck, forcing a “total overhaul” of the white marble monument by a repair team.

John Clark Gable also warned against letting Jackson fans into the mausoleum — claiming that if they came inside, their tributes could damage surrounding memorials, including his father’s.

He said he asked security to “keep an eye out” for the lipstick bandit’s return.